US845933A - Car construction. - Google Patents

Description

PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

4 SHEBTS-SHEET 1.

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APPLIGATON FILED MAY 3,1905.

PATENTE@ MAR.V 5, 1907.

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E. I. DODDS.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

APPLIOATION FILED MAYs,1so5.

SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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PATENTE@ MAR.

E. I. DODDS.

UAR CONSTRUCTION.

APYLIGATION FILED MAYs,19o5.

4 SEBETS-SHEET 3.

To. 845,933. PATENTED MAR. 5, 1907.

E. I. nomas. l GAR CONSTRUCTION..

APPLICATON FILED MAY 3,1905.

' 4 SHEETS-SHEET 4.

UNITED'A STATES NPATENT oFFron.

EIHAN I. DODDS, OF PULLMAN, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PULLMAN COM- PANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS,

A CORPORATION OF ILLINOIS.

CAR CONSTRUCTION.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented' March 5, 1907.

' Applicationled May 3. 1905. Serial No. 258.577.

@ZZ whom it may con/cern.: v Be it known that I, ETHAN I. DoDDs, a

l citizen of theUnited States, residing at'A Pulli acterize'd by the provision 'ofiacshaft extend man, in the county of Cookanii State of Illivnois, have invented certain new and usefulv Improvements in Car Constructions, of which the following is asecification. My invention lrelates to car constructions, more particularly cars of that'type wherein the lbottoms are constituted by a series 'of iloor-secti'ons` in the form of hin ed doors y that mayfbe dropped by means of oor-operating mechanism to discharge the load beneath or 4to the sides ofthe car and subsequently raised to andy-held in normally closed position. Y

In fan'application heretofore filed b me on the 24th day of April, 1905, Seria No.' 257,150, Iliave disclosed as the subject-matter thereof a door-operating mechanism charinglongitudinall of each side of the car and provided with'o set or cranked portions 'envby me on the 28th vday of Apri 1905, Serial No. 257,879,I have shown an extension of nected to -allow the door to drop and swing c side posts of, thebody and'carrying hingel members of the car-body, (indicated at 20 the same principle to a lcar having one or more ldischarging bottom-sections that are hinged along both their outer and inner edges, so as to dump the load either outwardly or in wardly relatively to the sides of the car. In said `last-named application the doors are supported 'by hinge members carried by slidable longitudinally-extending ro ds, whereby the hinges on either side may be discononv the hinges of theo'ther side.

My present invention relates to a car of the same character'as thatdisclosedin the .last- .named application, In present4` improvements pertainingto a iiferent manner and means of supporting the inner and outer margins of the drop-bottom sections with capacity for disconnection 'from theirsupports, so as to open' in either direction, said means being chiefly characterized by the provision of l oscillatory rods mounted, preferably, in the arms movably engaging hinge-arms or brackets mountedl on the doors.

In the accompanying drawings I have gondola car, and, referring thereto-- Figure l` is a cross-sectional View of a car, showing a door-on one side in open position and the o posite door on the other side in closed osltion. view oiP the end portion of the car. shown. in Fig. 1. Fig. '3- is a longitudinal sectional View showing in side elevation thevdoor-opera-ting shaft. Fig. 4 is an enlarged cross-sectional view through one side of the car-body, more particularly illustrating the door supporting and o erating mechanisms. Fi 5 is Fig. 2 is a side elevational4 illustrated a preferred mechanical embodi- I `ment of my invention as "applied to a steel an enlarged 5 eta-il vlew in longitudina Y secr tion through the shaft-operatingmechanism at the end ,of the car, and Fi '6 is a detail front elevational view of the s aft-operating mechanism shown in Fig. 5.

' Referring tothe dran ings, 10 may designate the twin center sills, which in cars of this type usually accommodate the draw-bar and coupler.v

11 designates the side end plates, of the car-body.

13 designates the side stakes, which have y.outwardly-projecting truss-ribs affording a'n effective resistance to bending or bulgingl strains upon the sides vof the body. i

14 designates each of a'series of doors constituting drop-bottom sections of the car- These doors are hinged along both their inner and outer longitudinal edges in' plates, and 12 the .the following manner and by the following ,carrying at' their ends laterally-extending 'means: Rotatably'm-ounted in the ribs or i pintles 17. Suitably secured to the outer.

mar 'ns of thedoors 14 are hinge `members 18, aving downwardly-turned or hooked ends 18, adapted to engage and hang from the pintles 17 when the doors are closed. A

similar mechanism `is 4shown for supporting the inner margins of thepdoors with the same .capacity for a swinging movement on their inner margins as hinges, the same consistingr of shafts 19, mounted in the transverse frame and commonly termed flying transoms,) said shafts 19 being located, preferably, just outside the center sills 10. Fast on the shaft 19 are depending hinge-arms 21, having laterally-projecting pintles 22, adapted to be engaged by the downwardly-turned or hooked ends 23a of hinge-.arms 23, secured to the inner margins of the doors. Preferably, and as more clearly shown in Fig. 4, the hingearms 18 an'd 23 are integral with a bar 24, `that underlies and engages the under surface of the door throughout its entire length land constitutes a reinforcement and also a wearstrip or track for the rollers of the door-operating mechanism next to be described.

Disposed longitudinally of and beneath each side of the oar-.body is a door-operating shaft 25, which has integral offset or cranked portions 25a, disposed between adjacent iiying transoms and underlying the hinged doors. Each shaft has fast thereon a series of spur-gears 26, that rest upon and operate over racks 27, herein shown as bolted to the ltwer margin of the flying transoms. The offset portions or cranks 25a ofthe shaft are each preferably provided with one or more rollers 28, that engage the under surfaces of ,theV doors in an antifriction manner, being so disposed as to register with and operate upon the wear-strips 24. 'From the lforegoing it will be seen that when the shaft 25 is given a turning movement the shaft will not only rotate about its own axis, but by reason of the gearand-rack mechanism on which it is' mounted will be caused to travel bodily and .laterallyv inwardly and outwardly of the sides of the car-body, this resulting in giving to the roller-supports of the doors a long wide arc of travel, permitting a wide opening of the doors, as well as affording a mechanic- 'ally-advantageous means for operating the latter. Any suitable and convenient mech anism for turning said shaft may be employed, a simple mechanism for this purpose herein shown consisting of the following: Referring more particularly to Figs. 5 and 6, 29 designates a bar securely bolted to the outer face of the.transverse end sill 30 and containing a dovetailed channel- 31. 0n said bar is slidably mounted, by means of a dovetailed tongue 32, engaging said channel,v a block 32, in which is iournaled the end.

of the shaft 25. On the overhanging end of said shaft are keyed a pair of twin star-wheels 33, and between them is loosely mounted an operating-lever 34, vthat carries on either side a pivoted dog 35, engaging the toothed peripheries of the starwheels. Pivotally mounted on the block 32, above the inner star-wheel 33, are a pair of oppositely disposed and operating' detent- pawls 36 and 37, the noses of which overlie and engage the teeth of said star-wheel, one of said pawls preventing rotation. of the `v.star-wheels and shaft in one direction and th'pther preventing such rotation in the opposite direction.' When both engage the star-wheel-in the manner shown in lig. 6, the shaft is securely held against turning and sidewise bodily movement in either direction.

For the purpose of effecting the oscillation of the outer hinge-shafts 15, so as to connect and disconnect the outer margin of the doors,

as desired, one or both ends of the shaft is provided with a depending arm 38, which when. swung outwardly of the side of the carbody turns the shaft 15 and carries the hinge-arms 16 and pintles 17 downwardly and out of engagement with the cooperating hinge-arms 1S, carried by the door. Conversely, when the arm 38 is swung from t-he outer inclined position to the vertical depending position, as shown in Fig. 4, said hinge-arms 1.6,and pintles 17 are swung upwardly into interlocking engagement with the hinge-arms 18. In order to maintain said hinge members in the last-described. position, any simple detent mechanism.. may be employed, such as a ratchet plate 39, engaged by a pivoted dog 40, which latter is swung downwardly and out of the Way when the door is to be disconnected from its hinge. As a further means for locking the hinge-shaft-in normally operative position a ring or loop 41 may be. pivoted to the side of the car and arranged to engage the lower end of the operating arm 38 when the latter is in its depending vertical position, as clearly shown'in Fig. 4, a crossin carried by said arm sufiicing to retain the atter and the ring engaged with each other.

For operating the inner shafts 19 I may employ7 at either or both en'ds thereof an upright arm 43, by rocking which Vto one side, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the inner hinge-arms 21 may be dropped, so as to disconnect the hinge-arms 23 from the supportingpintles 22, thus allowing the inner edge of the door to drop. The reverse movement of said arm 43 aftery the' door has been closed restores the connectedvcondition of said hinge members. Any suitable fastening means may be employed to secure the arm 43 in its vertical or door-operating position. n

In operation, assuming that the doors are closed and that it is desired to discharge the load outwardly of; the sides of the car, the pawl 40 andlockihg-ring41 are disengaged and the arm 38 is swungupwardly, thus rock- IOS ing the shaft 15 and disconnecting the hingepintles 17 from the hinge-arms 18, which allowsthe door to drop on the hingeintles 22 as an axis of movement, when the s aft 25 is actuated by the operating-arm 34 to move said shaft bodily inwardly ofthe car, the inner detent-pawl being out of the way for this purpose, the weight of the load eflectin the actuation of the shaft as soon as it hasilieen started by lever 34. In case it is desired to discharge the load beneath the car, and Pconsequently to swing the doors on their outer margins as hinges, the inner actuating-arms 43 .uter edges, each of .saidj hinge mechanisms are operated in the manner described,thu's separating the inner hinge membersand reeing the inner marginof the doors, permitting the latter to drop as soon as the shaft 25 is actuated in the opposite direction or toward Y the sides ofthe car.

To. restore the car to normal load-receiving condition after a load has been discharged,

whether beneath or to -the sides of the carbody, the doors are irst restored to horizontal position or closed position by the door-operating mechanism, ai'ter which the shafts 15 for 19,` as the case maybe, are oscillated to restore the connection of the PIeViOuSly-separated hinge-arms.

It being evident that minor changes in the i details of construction and relative-arrangement of parts might be made in theabove- 'described `mechanism without departing from the Vprinciple or. sacrificing any of the advanta es thereof, I do not limit the invention t'o t 'e particular stmcture and mechanism disclosed, exceptto the extent indicated in 'specific claims.

This patent is intended to embrace only so 'ered by the claimsx y I claim-'- much of the disclosure made herein as is cov-v 1. In-a railway-carhaving one or morev center sills, they combination of one or more dumping-doors on each side of-said center sills; separable` hinge mechanisms supporting each of said doors on both. of its longitudinal edges whereby either edge may be dropped, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hinge member carried by the .door,an` oscillatory hinge-rod, a hinge mem- 1 ber for said rod pivotally engaging said irstnamed hinge'mem'ber, and means for actuat-l ing said hinge-rod, and means for actuating said doors, substantially as described.

In' a railway-car having one ormore. 'center sills, the combination of one or more dumping-doors on each side of said center sills, separable hinge mechanisms supporting each door on both of its longitudinal edges whereby'either edge. may be dropped, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hingearm carried by the door, an oscillatory hingerodextending longitudinallyof the' car-bo a hinge-arm carried by said rod, 'means pivot- "allyconnecting said hinge-arms,. and 'means for actuating said hinge-rod, and means for `ab scribed.` y

actuatingfsaid doors, substantially as def 3. In a railway-car having .onev ormore center sills, l the combination of onejor more dumping-doors on'each side of said center sills, se arable hinge mechanisms support-j ing eac ofsaid doors on both its inner and y door, an oscillatory hinge-rod,

comprisi fa' hinge-arm carried bythe door having a ent end'an oscill-atory'hinge-rod extending longitudinally ofthe carre hingearm carried by 'said rod and having a pintleA engaging the bentend of' said-first-named hinge-arm, 'and means gfor; apthating A'said i center sillsfthe combination of" one or more.

dumping-.doors on each side of said center .y sills, separable hinge"meohanismssupporting' each vof said doors onbothliitsinner and outer longitudinal' edges wheiy eitherjedge -'may be dropped, each of said hinge mechanisms comprising a hingev member crried bythe hinge member on said rod pivotally and separably engag- Ving said irst'- named hinge' member, and4 means for actuating said hinge-rod, a detent device for retaining said hinge-rod'in a poil I" sition to hold the door closed, and means for actuating said doors', substantially as described. v. A

5. The combinationwith a car-body having a dumping4 floor-section, of separable' hinge mechanisms supporting said iioor-section on both of its longitudinal vedges Whereby either edge maybe dropped, said mechanism comprising a hinge member carried by the floor-section, an-oSciIl'atOryrOd, a hi e member on said rodpivotally and Separab y.

- engaging said first-named L hinge '-ineinbe'r, j means for actuating said hinge-rod; lan oper--v atin -shaft having -an oifset'portionca gef a rol er, and a wear-strip on the under sdel 4" said iloor-section engaged by said rollerfsaid wear-strip constitutingA anintegral 'connec- 'tionbetweensaid hinge .members carried b 'said Hoor-section, substantially: as describe y IDO 6. Ina railway-car, the combination-of af car-body, center sills, one or more dumpingdoors on each side of said 'center sills and .forming therewith 'a' substantiallylevel or flush bottomforV said car-body, separable f 1 A v hinge mechanisms support each of said whereby either edge may be andmeans for actuating saidliinge-rod, and

doors on bothv of its longitudinal- @edges ropped`,iea'ch of said hinge mechanisms comprisingv a hinge member carried by the door, van oscillatory hinge-rod, a hinge member on said rod pivotally engaging said first-named hinge member,

means for operating saiddoorsto o en and v close the same,.'substantially as descri ed.

. ETHAN I', DODDS,`

, Witnesses:

,'SAMmsnN. POND, Y

. FRigiDniticKfC. GOODWIN.

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